The Return
by dreaminsapphire
Summary: The Pevensies have come to Narnia once more only to find it's not quite as they remember it. A Valiant Soul series. This is a sequel piece to Only the Beginning featuring Lucy. This will mostly follow the book Prince Caspian.
1. Chapter 1: An Island

**A/N: Hello again my lovely readers. I would like to thank you all for your support thus far of my writing and let you know that I will be working on this new story while I continue to battle a bit of writer's block and juggle my increasingly hectic schedule. I hope you enjoy this second installment**

Disclaimer: Alas I still own nothing

Chapter One: An Island

Lucy Pevensie

Train Station

August 15, 1941

The wide blue water spread endlessly before me on the open shore. There was no sign that this was a public beach or that anyone had ever been here before at all. The water was so crystal clear that you seemed to be able to see through it and it was little stretch for my imagination to guess where we were. Narnia, the land that my brothers and sister had ruled so long, lay out in bright contrast of the dark dingy train station that we had been sitting in. I remembered that Peter and Edmund were questioning why we had been away so long; as they had so many times before and then there was a pinching and pulling sensation and suddenly we were home.

At least I hope it is Narnia. I have never seen my country so still as this place. Suddenly the boys were off racing to the water and peeling off their shoes and socks. I was not about to miss this so I followed suit. Susan hung back for a moment looking a little unsure. "We could be anywhere." She said softly after a moment.

"Come on Susan!" Edmund called from the water. She seemed to break out of herself long enough to at least wade in a bit. I splashed towards the boys as best I could but the waves slapped me toward the shore. After a while we headed back toward shore, Peter was already starting to turn a bit red from the sun.

"We'd best make some sort of plans; it'll be getting dark soon." Susan pointed out.

"I don't know about you but I'm starting to get a bit hungry." Edmund replied. This reminded me that we didn't really have much to eat.

"I'm more thirsty than hungry." I said after a moment.

"If we walk along the shore we're bound to find any streams that run through this place," Peter pointed out, "and that way we don't have to go wondering through all those trees." This seemed like the most sensible idea so we began to walk along the shore. We began walking a good way along before the shoreline curved strongly and after some time there seemed to be another thickly wooded shore across from us.

"I wonder if this is an island or if it all connects." I mused. We continued plodding through the hot sand under the hot sun and I wished we would find some food or water soon. I kept expecting the land to join with that across from us somewhere until finally our little shore curved sharply away from the other again.

"Looks like it's an island after all." Edmund said a bit dejectedly.

"Look!" I shouted excitedly. There up ahead of us lay a silvery-blue line that I knew at once to be a river and rushed toward it. Peter led the way further up the river, away from the beach, and finally we found a shallow place for us to drink. The relief of the fresh water was instant and so pleasing.

"I've got the sandwich Mum packed for us in my pocket." Edmund's hand was already reaching to grab the wrapped sandwich.

"So have I." Peter added.

"I left mine on the platform." I felt my pockets and realized how unfortunate that was.

"We might want to save them in case we get worse off." Susan suggested. I really wish she wouldn't have. Solving my thirst made me feel very hungry.

"There's no point in waiting until they go bad." Edmund reasoned. He and Peter promptly brought out there sandwiches and gave me and Susan a half. I was still a bit hungry after eating mine but it was better than before. "Now we can go exploring." Edmund looked excitedly at the wood around him.

"What'll we do for our next meal though?" Susan's blue eyes looked worriedly at her brothers.

"We can find berries and such, I'm sure there are plenty of edible plants on this island." Peter began walking through the thick trees following close to the river. We continued to walk and I was getting rather tired. There were a number of small plants on the path but no one was sure whether they would be edible or not. Finally I saw a small fruit on the ground.

I looked up and surely there were dozens of apple trees all around us. "We'll be alright for a while at least." Susan relented. Each of us ate an apple or three and that was when we first noticed the large stone wall.

**Hello dear readers, I hope you all haven't forgotten me. Real life has been extremely crazy these days. I'm writing this to hopefully work myself through a very extended bit of writer's block. I hope you enjoy it.**


	2. Chapter 2: Mystery

**Hello all! This summer I will be writing so much you'll probably be sick of me but I thought I'd get us started off. I may be slow on review replies because I'm headed to New York for a few days. Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

Chapter Two: Mystery

"What do you suppose that is?" Peter asked looking around the large work of masonry.

"I suppose it was once part of a castle and we must have just walked through what would have been the courtyard." Susan meditatively walked around the outcropping running her hand over its hard cool surface.

"I see what you mean," Peter began to wander around the ruins looking here and there at various remnants of the castle that used to stand here, "there would be the remains of a tower, and there is a set of stairs that must have led up to the great hall."

"Ages ago by the look of it." Edmund brushed aside a rather large cobweb as he explored the area. "I wish we could find who the people where that used to live here; and how long ago."

"It's giving me a funny feeling." I realized that this was no part of Narnia I had ever known from so long ago.

"Does it, Lu?" Peter turned to me and stared, "Because it does to me, too. I wonder what it all means." There was a moment of silence were I realized we might not be in Narnia at all. There was an absolute silence in this place- even in the trees that I had never seen before. Together we crossed into another area that was much like the courtyard because all semblance of the roof had given way long ago and very few sections of wall still remained. The grass and various types of weed had grown up through the cobbled stone and made the space feel like a garden. This hallway was rather long and narrow and the walls that were left indicated it had once had a very tall ceiling. At the far end of the hall was a sort of terrace that stood a few feet above the grassy floor.

"I wonder if this was really a hall," Susan mused walking to the higher area, "it seems odd to raise the floor of a hall."

"Why, don't you see?" Peter asked suddenly rather excited, "that was where the dais where the High Table was, where the king and the great lords sat. Anyone would think that you'd forgotten we ourselves were once Kings and Queens and sat on a dais just like that, in our great hall."

"In our castle of Cair Paravel, at the mouth of the Great River of Narnia," Susan said softly, "how could I forget?"

"We'd better find somewhere to settle for the night; those shadows promise it'll be dark before long." Edmund said.

We walked through the castle and through the once corridors until we found a place that opened up to a larger part of the wood. Here Peter and Edmund agreed they could build a fire and Susan and I agreed we could find apples and water for supper.

I felt strongly that some sort of adventure was beginning much like the last time and could not contain my excitement. Susan and I split ways a moment to gather as many apples as we could, but when I met back with her she had found a well and was carrying a bucket of water in one hand and something else in her other hand.

"Look," she said showing me the tiny golden horse.

"We'd better show the boys." I said.

We hurried back to the campsite where Peter and Edmund had just succeeded in starting a fire.

"Peter look." Both our brothers came to see what Susan had found.

"That looks like the one from my chess set." Edmund marveled.

"Oh but don't you see?" I asked suddenly.

"What is it Lu?" Peter asked.

"Right there would have been an archway, and over there that set of stairs would have led off to the council chambers… This is Cair Paravel itself. Just imagine columns and big glass windows looking out at the sea."

"But how is that? This place has been abandoned for hundreds of years, you can tell by the trees growing right up to the gates. Look at the stones. No one's lived here for ages." Edmund rested his hand on one of the disintegrating walls.

"But this room is the exact size and shape as the hall at Cair Paravel." Peter began gesturing about to where the room had changed. "And that chess piece is very like the ones we used to have, and right before we left we had that orchard planted and dear old Lilygloves was chief mole and commanded all the digging, remember?"

"I do." I felt so strangely seeing my Cair Paravel in such a state of ruin.

"But Cair Paravel wasn't on an island." Susan pointed out.

"But someone could have dug a channel since then." Peter suggested.

"How can this be? We left only a year ago and the castle's been abandoned hundreds, and trees that we've planted have grown up all wild." Edmund's dark eyes questioningly searched the sky.

"That's the thing," I said trying to recall, "if this is Cair Paravel there should be a door along this wall that leads to the treasure chamber."

Peter searched along the ivy colored wall tapping at it until there was a hollow sounding place.

"Oh do let's leave it until morning." Susan pleaded.

"We can't let a mystery go undiscovered." Peter said rather excitedly as he and Edmund discussed how to get the great door open.


	3. Chapter 3: The Treasure Chamber

Chapter Three: The Treasure Chamber

We all made quick work of clearing the ivy away from the now rotting wood. Peter kicked until there was a creaking sound, and then Edmund started to rapidly add his own efforts to demolishing the door.

"We should have left it until morning." Susan sulked.

"Well, there's no sense leaving a big hole in the wall now." Edmund's eyes glimmered with excitement as he looked toward the decayed opening. There was a sudden chill as the final wood gave way and there before us stood the entrance to our treasure room.

"Now we'll need a torch." Peter quickly looked about for a stick.

"Here this'll help." Edmund said tossing his electric torch. "Here I've reached the top of the stairs."

"But this still doesn't make sense; we didn't leave all that long ago." Susan had not budged from her place between the top of the stairs and the center of the pavilion.

"We can settle that later. Besides Susan, it's no good behaving like kids here in Narnia. You're a Queen here." Edmund eagerly turned back to the staircase.

"Besides I'm not sure any of us could sleep with a mystery on our minds." Peter followed behind and I was half a step after him.

After we reached the bottom I was convinced this must be our treasure room, the stairs had counted just the same and I could sense we were now in an open room even before Edmund flashed his torch about. There standing before us were the four chests before a statue built in the likeness of each of us. About the statues were various items and we each couldn't help but reminisce about how we had received such and such from a lord or lady or how the boys had one this or that from a tournament.

"I was so tall." I pulled out an ornately made dress that I had once worn to the Royal Gala.

"Well you where older." Susan pointed out looking at one of her own dresses.

"As opposed to hundreds of years later… when you're younger." Edmund smirked.

"We should probably grab what we want and leave." Peter said. I reached into my chest and grabbed the small diamond bottle that was still a bit over half full with the cordial of the sun flower. Edmund grabbed an old sword and shield of his along with pieces of his first suit of armor that was made by Narnia's finest dwarf smiths.

"Oh. My horn, I left it on my saddle the day we went back to that other place… England." Susan grabbed her faithful bow and arrows from where they hung. She tested the string and by some form of magic it was still in working order.

Lastly Peter drew his shield with the rampant red lion on it and drew the sword that had been given him by Father Christmas. "It is my sword Rhindon. With it I killed the Wolf and was knighted." There was an air of awe in his tone and instantly we were children no more but proper ladies and knights of the court, servants of the Lion; Kings and Queens once more.

"When Aslan bears his teeth,

Winter meets its death." The old liturgy floated off Peter's tongue.

"And when he shakes his mane,

We shall have spring again." I answered softly. There was something yet that bothered me. In this moment of the forgotten world we once knew, there was something quieter about this place than ever. "Everyone we ever knew… Mr. Tumnus… The Beavers… General Oreius and- and-…. They're all gone."

"Come on, let's make camp." Peter led us back out above the chamber.


	4. Chapter 4: Old Narnians

Chapter Four: Old Narnians

Everyone found they woke rather early after sleeping on the hard palace cobblestone. There really was nothing to be done for it once we were up. We made a breakfast of apples and well water (which does leave a little something to be wanted). "At least it is a beautiful morning." I tried to change the outlook after several minutes of utter silence.

"We've got to get off this island- today." Edmund said. Peter nodded in agreement. There wasn't much way to get around it. We tidied up at the well as best we could and headed toward the beach once more. Unfortunately Susan had been right about wanting to keep our shoes and socks from being lost, the cold morning air was chilly against my thin dress.

"I suppose we'll have to swim for it then." Edmund said already eyeing where the nearest place to the distant shoreline was.

"That would be alright for Su," Peter said glancing at her, "but I don't know about the rest of us." I know that he really meant me. Of all the qualities my eldest brother has, subtlety is not one.

"But Peter," I tried my best to put words to my thought, "I know that I can't swim worth anything back home- in England. But I could swim long ago… if it was that long ago- when we were Kings and Queens… do you think-"

"Oh!" Edmund exclaimed suddenly. We all turned excitedly to him. He must have had some terribly brilliant thought to be so distracted. "I've got it. You know how we were puzzling last night that if we left Narnia a year ago but everything looks so that we've left Cair Paravel hundreds of years ago? Well don't you see, however long we seemed to live in Narnia, we got back to the wardrobe and it seemed to have taken no time at all."

"Go on." Susan encouraged.

"And so, once you're out of Narnia, you have no idea how Narnian time is going. Why shouldn't hundreds of years have passed when only one year had passed in London?"

"So it's as though we've come back to Narnia as though we were Crusaders or some sort come back to England."

"Look look." I pointed out on the water for there were two men dressed as soldiers rowing around the island as though looking for something. We quietly moved further into the woods to watch what was happening. One of the soldiers was holding a bundle that appeared to be alive.

"This'll do." The first soldier- the one that had been rowing- said.

"What about tying a stone to his feet?" The second asked. He appeared quite nervous as he kept looking out at all the trees in the area.

"We needn't worry about that so long as the cords are tied correctly." With that the two soldiers lifted what I could now see was a dwarf tied hand and foot. I wanted to cry out, but before I could think there was a familiar twang and I watched as an arrow bounced off one of the soldier's helmets.

I turned to look to Susan who was now a bit pale but had already moved to draw another arrow. The guard she had first hit pulled a crossbow and was aiming it wildly into the woods. Susan quickly loosed another arrow that fettered straight across his hand. He dropped the crossbow and the force of his sudden motion tossed him from the longboat. The second stood only a moment before diving after his companion to shore.

Peter was instantly diving toward the boat and Edmund ran after him as best he could. Together both brothers pulled the boat to shore and Peter made quick work of cutting the dwarf's bonds. The red dwarf sputtered a moment but looked no less calm once he had cleared himself after being so roughly dropped into the bottom of the boat.

"Well you certainly don't feel like ghosts." He said roughly as he rubbed where the ties had been. "I do hope you didn't rescue me just to finish their job."

"Why should we be ghosts?" I certainly hadn't heard many ghost stories in all my time in Narnia.

"They say this wood is filled with spirits, and they always take those prisoners of state down to this island to send 'em to the ghosts as they say. I always thought they drowned 'em or slit their throats, but those two certainly seemed to think the ghosts were real."

"That would be why they ran off so quickly." Susan said still rather flushed.

"They got away?" The dwarf asked.

"I wasn't shooting to kill you know." Susan got rather haughty. I knew she didn't well like being thought a poor shot.

"They may mean trouble later on." He answered darkly.

"Why were they trying to drown you?" Peter asked rather bluntly.

"They're Telmarines it's what they do."

"Telmarines? In Narnia?" Edmund knew better than I how Telmar, a rather distant land might have released its people into Narnia.

"Where have you been the last couple hundred years?" He glanced between each of our faces, but changed his mind for speaking whatever thought was forming. "Let's make something of breakfast shall we?"

"I'm afraid there are only apples here." I explained.

"Well nothing like a river and a little fishing to solve that." He led us to the boat. Peter and Edmund did most of the rowing while the dwarf took to fishing with some old netting left behind in the boat. They made quick work of it and we soon circled back to the other side of the island with plenty of fish in tow. "Beards and bedsteads! There really is a castle here."

"Mostly just ruins now." I looked longingly at what was left of my beloved Cair.

We set to work about relighting the fire and getting to work on the fish. I burnt a finger or two and it was pretty messy but it beat apples.

"Tell us your story and we'll tell ours." Peter said after we had finished.

"Well, you've saved my life so I suppose it's fair to have it that way. First I am a messenger of King Caspian."

"Who's he?" We asked at once.

"Caspian the Tenth, King of Narnia, and long may he reign! That is to say he ought to be King. Right now he's only King of us old Narnians-"

"Please, what do you mean by old Narnians?" I asked.

"I suppose I ought to start at the beginning-" He settled down with his pipe (dwarves nearly always carry them with them) and began to tell us the tale of the prince, Caspian.

**AN: So out of curiosity, any comments, thoughts, changes that are blatantly necessary? Also do I need to detail the full story of Caspian or do you need any of it at all? **


	5. Chapter 5: Lessons

Chapter Five: Lessons

The dwarf accounted to the children the tale of how Prince Caspian came to learn of Old Narnia and join their side and he told of how the war was brewing and making all of the 'damn Telmarines' tense. "And then right as I was on my way there was a strange sound, the likes of which I've never heard all my days. The whole air was full with it. Cool and sweet, but strong enough to make the woods shudder. I said to myself if that's not the horn call me a rabbit."

"What time was it?" Edmund broke in for the first time in hours.

"Around nine in the morning."

"That's when we were on the railway station." Susan's eyes glistened excitedly as she realized she had been called back by her own horn.

"Please go on." I invited.

"Well I was saying, I went on hard as I could pelt. But I kept walking through the night, and then made the mistake of taking a shortcut through an open field. That's where they got me. I was taken to the castle and lobsters and lollipops I was lucky they didn't run me through there. No, instead I was sent off down the river in a sort of grand execution. 'Sending me to the ghosts' they said. And then this young lady does her archery, and it was pretty shooting, let me tell you- and here we are." He refilled his pipe and looked back at us expectantly. "Now," he started finally, "I suppose we ought to go back to Caspian and tell him no help has come."

"No help?" Susan exclaimed. "But don't you see it has worked! And here we are."

Trumpkin suddenly made himself very busy cleaning his pipe with his handkerchief. "Yes… here… you are. I see that… but-"

"But don't you see who we are!" I suddenly couldn't take it anymore. "Are you stupid?" Susan looked at me admonishingly but honestly could it be more obvious.

"Um… yes, well- I suppose you are the four children from the old stories, and it's very interesting to meet you… but, no offense…"

"Do go on and say it." Edmund spat at the dwarf.

"Well, you see… Dr. Cornelius and Caspian- well everyone really- they were expecting warriors, and not that we don't like children, but we're in the middle of a war you see and-"

"We've been to war before." Peter suddenly spoke. His voice was slow and I knew that he was furious.

"Right, the stories told of that, but you of course had a full army and it's just I don't think you understand-"

"Don't you understand we fought the Battle of Beruna severely outnumbered, we've been ambushed more times than I can count and-"

"And we'd better not lose our tempers." Peter was forming some sort of plan, I could tell. "Let's fit him with fresh armor and fit ourselves from the treasure chamber."

"I don't see what good that will do." Edmund replied sarcastically.

"I do think we ought to do what Peter says." I whispered to Edmund who only silently led the way to the chamber. We each entered the room and my siblings and I found some of our old armor. Trumpkin wondered a bit until he found a suit dwarfish in size and a suitable sword and bow.

We walked back up into the sunlight and behind me I heard Peter and Edmund planning something. "No, I should do it," Edmund said finally "it'll be more of a sucks for him if I win and less of a disappointment for us if I lose."

They emerged and Edmund very politely approached the red dwarf. "Sir, it's not often kids like us are face to face with great warriors like yourself, would you allow me to have a fencing match with you."

"It's a bit of a dangerous game lad."

"I know you're quite clever enough to disarm me without cutting me and I'll get nowhere near you."

"I don't know about this, but we'll give it a go."

Within seconds both had swords drawn and Susan, Peter and I had cleared the dais for the two to spar. It was quite spectacular to watch first one slash then one block and then the other crossed in half a second. Trumpkin swung his sword low which would have cut Edmund's knees from under him if he hadn't been paying attention. Edmund leaped over the blow and in a second they were crossing steel once more. It was something grand to see for in that moment the boy Edmund faded away and in his place stood once more King Edmund the Just- the forgiven King. Here and there Susan gasped as the two became close and then circled back again. Then so quickly that if you blinked you might have missed it there was a flash and a clatter and Trumpkin's sword was on the ground near him. He held his hand as though it stung (which it did, Edmund had showed me this particular disarm before).

"You aren't hurt are you, dear little friend?" Edmund's voice was dripping with condescension.

"I see the point, you learned a trick I never knew." Trumkin answered drily.

"It's true that any great swordsman can be unarmed by a trick he hasn't encountered, but let's let this great fellow have a chance to redeem himself." Peter walked over to Susan now and put his arm around her. "Won't you let my dear sister challenge you to a bit of archery- there are no tricks in archery."

"I see what you mean, as though I didn't see her shoot earlier." He said gruffly. "All the same I'll have a go at it."

"The target will be that apple hanging over the garden I think." Susan said. Her focus was already shifting to her bow, the place where the Gentle Queen melted away and took fully the persona of the Archer Queen. "The one way up there." She pointed.

"Looks more like a cherry." He muttered. Still Trumpkin pulled his bow and I could tell by his stance that he knew what he was doing. He took aim and there was a soft whirring as the arrow just barely flew past the apple.

Susan calmly looked up and drew her arrow on the string. I knew the instant she anchored her shot that it would hit, Susan was not one to miss often. The arrow flew out and then there was a soft thump as the apple fell with the arrow straight through the middle of it.

"Fair shot indeed." Trumpkin admired.

"There was a bit of wind when you shot, yours was just as good." Susan said when she came back to her mother of everyone persona.

"No, there wasn't and I won't even say that my scar makes my shot a bit off. You shot better." The dwarf said with resignation.

"Are you injured?" I was concerned and my hand instantly went to my side as it had for nearly twenty years now.

"It's not a sight for little girls. There I go again, I suppose you're a world class healer." He rolled up his sleeve so I could see the clumsily bandaged arm. I carefully removed the bandage and looked at the swollen, scarring cut. It looked mildly infected so I pulled my cordial out and lightly dropped a single red drop onto the wound. "What's this? What did you do?" He twisted around until he could see and then jumped up. "Giants and junipers! I'm healed. Why I've been quite a fool." Trumpkin said and immediately apologized. We of course told him not to mention it.

"Well there's only one thing left to do," Peter said, "we'd better go join Caspian."


	6. Chapter 6: The Journey Begins

Chapter Six: The Journey Begins

"Well there's only one thing left to do," Peter said, "we'd better go join Caspian."

"The sooner the better," Trumpkin agreed, "my being a fool has wasted nearly an hour."

"It ought to be about a two days journey the way you came since we can't walk all night like you can." Peter was once again becoming the great navigator who knew every stick and stone of his country. "What Trumpkin calls Aslan's How must be the stone table itself. And it is about half a day's march from there down to the Fords of Beruna-"

"They call it Beruna's Bridge these days." Trumpkin added.

"There wasn't a bridge in our time," Peter said calmly, "and from Beruna down to here was another day and a bit. We used to do the whole thing and be back by tea time going easy, if we kept pace we could probably make it in a day and a half-"

"Except it's all wood now, and there's the Telmarines to avoid."

"Need we go the same way as our Dear Little Friend at all?" Edmund glibly questioned.

"No more of that if you love me." The dwarf said less edgily than usual.

"Oh mightn't we call you D.L.F.?" I received a glare from Susan.

"Don't let's keep on him like that." She reprimanded.

"Don't worry, lass- Your Majesty, there's no jibe that'll raise a blister." And so Trumpkin became D.L.F. until we almost couldn't remember why we called him that in the first place.

"What I meant was couldn't we row back up Glasswater until it comes up near the Stone- I mean Aslan's How?"

"It must be nice to know the waters." Trumpkin said.

"We'd better prepare some apples and take a good long drink from the well." Susan suggested and everyone followed.

The boat reminded me of all the old times when we would sail out on our grand ships all over the world. "The trees are so still." I sighed as I looked at the slightly windblown branches.

"They're trees. What'd you expect?" D.L.F. asked not harshly but out of sincere curiosity.

"They used to dance." There was a pause and only the sound of Peter and Edmund's rowing could be heard.

"It wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded. Those who survived fled to the woods and they say the trees retreated so far into themselves they haven't been heard from since. Sounds like a bunch of fairy fluff if you ask me."

"How could Aslan let this happen?" I looked to each of my siblings. Peter looked a bit sad. Susan looked like she was trying to be strong. Edmund was peculiarly quiet. The D.L.F. looked at me quizzically.

"Aslan?" He asked. "I thought he abandoned us when you did."

"We didn't mean to leave, you know." Susan said softly.

"Doesn't matter now." He answered cynically.

The going was slow, and I knew we hadn't made it nearly halfway up Glasswater Creek when it started to fall dark. The boys and Susan who had been taking turns rowing were exhausted and it seemed there was nothing better to do but have a supper of apples and settle down for the night. Getting out of the boat was tremendous relief to the start of a headache I had gotten after being out in the sun all day. Still I found I wasn't tired at all, and I had forgotten that dwarfs snore. I stared up at the sky and started tracing the Friends of the Sky with my eyes. This time of year the Ship and the Leopard where clearly visible and part of the Hammer was high in the sky. I had missed the dear Leopard. Mum never allowed me to stay up late to watch the stars and that was one of the worse things about being a child again. Long ago I had found some excuse nearly every clear night just to watch the stars. Oreius had tried to teach me how to read the stars once, and I smiled at the memory. He hadn't been able to explain it very well so I soon thought the sky was telling of a rain of angry bunnies. The General had then decided that reading the stars was better left to the Centaurs.

Instead of being more tired I found I couldn't sleep if I wanted to now. I felt so happy to be home (well sort of home) and I didn't want to miss a second of the sights and sounds that made Narnia so special. Of course without the trees it wasn't the same. The night grew brighter as the moon rose and I found myself in a fog. For some reason whether it was like a sleepwalker's intuition or it was some form of vision I rose and walked a little ways from the bivouac.

Out amongst the trees a nightingale whistled the start of its tune than waited then started again. I walked out into the trees until I came to a place where little clearings of moonlight pooled about. The shadows of the trees kept everything feeling ethereal. "Oh trees, dear, dear trees. Oh trees awake, don't you remember it? Don't you remember me? Awake oh trees and come to me." There was silence all around the nightingale had paused in his melody and then softly, oh so softly there was a whisper of wind. The leaves shuffled softly and I felt at any moment the tree's words would break forth and I would understand them clearly.

Then as quickly as it came the wind left: the trees where silent once more. I couldn't help but feel that I had missed only the slightest ingredient in arousing the trees from themselves. I felt as though I had left out a single word.

Suddenly I felt quite tired and made my way back to our little camp where I hunkered down between Susan and Edmund. I was able to sleep at last.


End file.
